Hiccup's Birthday Gift
by mrjop2
Summary: Hiccup has a special gift for Astrid for her Birthday in this one-shot story


**Hiccup s Birthday Gift **

_**One-Shot**_

There was a time that no one would, in any circumstances, venture to believe that a young, unassuming boy like Hiccup would ever find his place in the tribe. The gravity of his clumsiness had once made him an outcast from the other Vikings, and even from his own father. Countless number of times he would try to kill a dragon to win his father's approval, but his endeavors would always result in doing more harm, to the village, than good. He was treated like crises, and not like a true Viking, which was all he really wanted to be. His father had no idea of his worth until Hiccup had found his dragon, Toothless; where their bond would forever change the way the village saw dragons.

At first, Hiccup used his correlation with his dragon to cheat during dragon training. He actually did it to win the heart of the girl whom he liked, Astrid; but instead, she had become extremely jealous of his new found popularity. Of course, things had changed over time. After defeating the dragon queen, who controlled all the dragons, they had become more than just friends; they had become an item.

One evening, Hiccup took Astrid on a long trek, after riding Toothless to a remote part of the island. As usual, her patience was running low after awhile; she was not one for surprises. "This better not be one of your crazy stunts, Hiccup," Astrid threatened. "You're still wearing the bandage from you last mishap."

Astrid had always had an aggressive quirk; in a way, that was what attracted him to her. She released her threatening clasp on the nape of his shirt, after nearly chocking him with her grip on his shirt. He rubbed his throat and looked down at his bandaged arm. He had hurt his arm after attempting to learn something new while flying on Toothless. A part of his harness had failed, so he had fallen off into the ocean as they were flying around the Island.

"Don't worry, we're half way there," Hiccup assured her. He had become more accustomed to her aggressive attitude; he could now tell the difference between when she was flirting and when she actually meant to cause bodily harm.

Astrid calmed herself down, and found her thoughts drifting back to when they took their first flight together on Toothless; she could remember looking up at the celestial stars as night fell. She had found a new found respect for the beauty of her surroundings. It was a welcomed distraction from her obsessions to become the top in her class at dragon training. That was when she experienced her collision of interests. That was when she first saw how beautiful the dragons actually were.

Strangely enough, when she opened her eyes to the truth about dragons, a great burden was lifted off of her shoulders; a burden of having to be the best Viking in Berk. Deep down, she realized that she did not truly respect herself. Her desire to be the popular Viking around the village was all for show, and to hide the truth from herself. After she had re-earned her self-respect, that was when she realized that she actually liked Hiccup, despite his clumsiness, and that was when she bartered with herself; she traded her compulsiveness with love. Yes, she may seem to embody the quintessence of violence, but there was still a part of her that wanted to find true love; except, she just never expected to find it with someone as scrawny as Hiccup.

She shook off her moment of nostalgia, as she continued her trek, following closely behind Hiccup. Despite his best attempts to hide it, Astrid could see that Hiccup's leg was ailing him. He was the hero of Berk who defeated the dragon queen with the help of his dragon, but as a commission for his heroics, he had lost a part of his left leg. Just below his knee, was a elaborate walking device built by Gobber. Hiccup made some modifications, but she could tell that it was still a struggle to walk with it.

She continued to follow him on the seemingly smooth trail. Toothless followed them, looking around at his surroundings like a curious puppy. Of all the dragons she had ever seen, Toothless was truly one of a kind. Not only was he the most gorgeous dragon she had seen; he was also the most human-like. She often wondered how she ever thought these beasts were mindless monsters.

"Hiccup, where are you taking me?" she demanded, her patience once again wearing thin.

"We-we're almost there," he urged her for just a little more patience.

He could sense her growing frustration. She was quickly slipping into a bad mood, and being around her, when that happened, was never a good thing. She was not one to bicker with anyone; she was the type to go straight to throwing fists or swinging her ax. Sensing that he was running out of time, he picked up the pace.

Despite her mounting frustration, she found some amusement with Hiccup's attempt to avoid her wrath. Although she would adamantly deny it, his tendency to go out of the way to win her approval, was a trait that she found attractive about him. Yes, she knew she made things overly hard for him, at times, and she was working on lightening up a bit; however, Hiccup was always determined to capture her affection, even though he already had it.

Up ahead, she could see the forest clearing up as the sunlight, emanating from in-between the trees, became brighter. Their trek was at an end, and none too soon. Whatever he had to show her had better been worth all of this. "I really think you will enjoy this," Hiccup said, taking a brief glance back at her.

Toothless seemed to know where he was, and he leaped past her and Hiccup with great exuberance, nearly knocking her over. "Hey!" As they walked closer to the clearance, she could hear a loud noise that she had never heard before. It was a violent sort of sound which grew louder the closer they came to the clearance.

As she arrived, she was temporarily blinded by the sunlight. In a matter of seconds, her eyes adjusted and what she saw was absolutely breathtaking. They were standing at the ledge of a large cliff, looking out at a massive waterfall. The water fell hundreds of feet into a giant lake at the bottom of the canyon. The water vapors left a huge multicolored rainbow which painted the beautiful scenery. The trees surrounding the basin of the falls were greener than any trees she had ever seen. The entire cliff was painted with green vegetation, leaving only a few bare spots of dirt and rock.

Her grumpy demeanor instantly evaporated, as she could not hide the awe that she felt. "I didn't know we had a waterfall on the Island."

It only made sense that Hiccup would have been the one to find such a wonderful place. Other than traveling by sea, Vikings never left the village. They were more a mixed breed of warriors and farmers, not explorers. Ever since Hiccup and found Toothless, he had seen nearly all of the surrounding Islands. He was more of a mix breed of an inventor and an explorer. He had opened her eyes to the beauty that the world had to offer, and she quickly had acquired a liking to exploring, but not without him. As scrawny and puny as he looked, he somehow made her feel safe on these journeys.

She looked to her right to see Hiccup was saddled up on Toothless, looking down at her. He held down his hand towards her as Toothless looked back at her as if to say, _are you ready for another spectacular ride? _

The first time Hiccup offered her a ride, she was hesitant to take his hand, but this time, it was a whole new story. She took his hand and accepted his help up onto the saddle behind him. "You better hold on tight."

She released a smile as she entwined her arms around his waist. She held on to him tightly, gently closed her eyes, and rested her chin on his shoulder. Hiccup could not help but blush every time she embraced him. "Okay Toothless, let's go."

Letting out an affirmative moan, Toothless expanded his wings and took to the sky with his typical reptilian ferocity. The dragon quickly softened up to keep a steady pace as he orbited around the canyon. Astrid opened her eyes, and visually feasted on the breathtaking view. She could not believe that he had once again impressed her, which was no easy feat by any stretch of the imagination. There were plenty of young, manly Vikings in the village that was interested in her. Yet, Hiccup was the only one who could impress her like this.

Despite this island being her home, she never really thought of it as being paradise. Seeing a sight like this totally changed the way she saw the island. Perhaps that was what Hiccup had in mind in the first place.

The tip of Toothless' left wing came just shy of touching the waterfall. The mist coming from the falls clung unto them, but it did not bother Astrid in the least. The gentle cool mist felt good across her face and arms. She found herself letting herself go; releasing her grip around Hiccup and stretching her arms apart. The mist mixed with the cool breeze tickled her face and neck.

Toothless took a small dive downward, before pulling upward. He peeled to the right, flying through the faint colors of the rainbow. Astrid felt renewed again; somehow, Hiccup always knew how to make her feel brand new. This was the perfect birthday gift, but for obvious reasons, she was not going to admit that out loud.

After a perfect flight around the canyon, Hiccup urged Toothless to land back on the cliff's edge, where they had come from. Toothless complied, hovering down onto the ground with a final few flaps of the wings. The two of them climbed down from the saddle, and there was a brief awkward silence between them. "So, did you like the waterfalls?" Hiccup asked timidly, almost ashamed that this was the only gift he could think of to give her.

Astrid frowned before punching him in the shoulder. "That's for the long trek you made me walk."

"Ow!" he yelped under his breath. He began to wonder if his arm would ever be free from the black and blue marks that she was so fond of giving to him.

After a few seconds have passed, she stepped up to him, tilted her head, and locked her lips with his. Both of their eyes shut as they found themselves losing themselves in the kiss. This was the most passionate kiss they had ever exchanged, and she was certain that it was enough to let him know how much she liked this surprise.

She bent forward, farther, and brought her lips up to his ears. "And that's for everything else," she whispered.

**THE END**


End file.
